Twenty-six stories up, we sit at the Holiday Inn, abandoned for years. Opened in 1975 and closed in 1975, it had less than a full year of operation. Soon after opening, the Holiday Inn served as one of the first fronts for the Lebanese civil war. A several month conflict between different militant groups, all occupying local hotels, was nicknamed the Battle of the Hotels. The Holiday Inn first housed a group of Christian soldiers trying to counterattack soldiers from an independent militia. Upon entering the hotel, many of its guests were still present and became trapped in their rooms due to gunfire. Five days later, both sides agreed to a short cease fire, allowing the building to be evacuated of its guests, but gunfire resumed soon after. For months the fighting continued between a variety of military and political parties making the Holiday Inn a battle ground.
The view from the top was absolutely stunning and showed how strategic this building was during the battle. Walking through the hotel had an eerie feel to it, just knowing the violence that had taken place and the lives that were lost at our very feet. Bullet holes peppered the walls and floors while RPG holes left the building porous like a sponge. In this shot you can see the kind of opening an RPG will put in a solid cement wall. Under the hole, there is a steel door that was probably used afterwards to act as a semi barrier, blockading the now gaping wound in the wall. Bloody hand prints on the walls and spray painted quotes from the soldiers gave each floor an almost museum like feel. Each sign of life inspiring a different mental image of the faces and events that happened. The building is a war veteran, beaten and battered, a living record.